Hi everyone!
Everyone is blogging about their freshman dorms this week! When I was a freshman, I actually lived at the Radisson across the street from USC. A couple of years ago, the Radisson was divided into 4 floors for students and 4 floors for hotel guests, so in a lot of ways it was a lot like a dorm and I actually really liked it.
Since then, it’s been converted into a normal hotel, so there’s not much of a reason to talk about it anymore. My sophomore year, I lived in an apartment complex across the street from USC called Cardinal Gardens, or “Car Gar” for short. Car Gar is one crosswalk away from USC. Actually, it’s right across the street from the Lyon Center, where all of my water polo practices are held. Needless to say, Car Gar was really convenient!
The apartment I lived in had two bedrooms with 2 girls each. The four of us shared a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. There was also a parking lot, which I appreciated, because I keep my car with me in L.A. My particular apartment had a porch that looked over the volleyball court. A few times I went down with my roommates to play. It was definitely a great study break! There was also a basketball court in a different area of the complex.
Sometimes it is not as easy to meet your neighbors when you live in an apartment (as opposed to in a dorm). I still wanted to know some of the other people living at Car Gar, so I joined the Car Gar building government. We put on various events for residents such as a Halloween party and giving out food during finals and holidays. It was definitely a great way to meet people! Here’s a picture of me with some members of my building government at Car Gar before going to dinner at The Grove!
So, that’s about it. I was pretty happy living at Car Gar. It was really close to the University Village, which has several restaurants, a supermarket, and a dollar store. I was able to make some good friends despite not living in a dorm…and I got to play volleyball if I wanted to!
Talk to you soon!
